Improvement in propelling vessels



ident-1l ndert @anni @tijden Letters Patent No. 108,230, dated October 11, 1870. i

IMPROVEMENT IN PROPELLING VESSELS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the same.

I, J EAN LUornN ARMAN, of Bordeaux, in the Empire of France, have invented a Boat with Circular Draught and Quadruple Propulsion, of which the Vfollowing is a specilication.

.Nature mul Object of the lncention. This arrangement consists of a vessel, or species of ferry-boat, with circular draught, capable of being driven byfour screws or propellers, which. are arranged, at equal distances apart, around the vessel, and at the extremities of shafts, which cross cach other at right angles in the center of' the vessel.

The object of this arrangement is to permit the boat to be impellcd in whatever direction may be desired, and whatever may be the force of contrary cnrrents, and thatvwithont obstructing the stream ,for the passage of other vessels; for," with the means' at .present employed, it is often diliicult, not to say i`mpossible, to cross or traverse, without considerable loss ot' time, a river having a rapid current, and which isoften crowded with ships and other vessels.

Such passages may be readily made by my arrangement of a boat with circular draught and four propellers, it being suiiicient, in order-,to cross a stream or river, to so turn the ,boat that two of the screws on the same line or diameter of the boat may be directed up and down stream, or in the direction of" der great service for the disembarking o1 the transportation of travelers and goods. i

Suche system, carried out in suitablel dimensions,

can be used for the carrying across of carriages, wag? ons, boats, and even of entire railway-trains. 'It presents, besides, for long and importantlcrossings, an advantage which willbe much appreciated by tavel ers; namely, that ofl avoidingr therolling and pitching of ordinary vessels.

' Used as a vessel ot' war, with an Airon-clad tower uponrdeck, and covering cannon placed at right angles, it will be of great service to the military `marine by permitting evolutions with the greatest facility, as the platform or deck may be pivoted at the center without interfering with the cannon.

This facility of evolution is essentially due to the quadruple propulsion, and the arrangement is-susceptible, as seen, of receivingin practice divers .other useful applications.

Description of the Accompmitng Drawing.

Figure 1 is a section through the center of the boat, and through one of the motive axes;

Figure 2, a plan view of' the deck of the vessel;

Figure 3, al section at right angles to that shown in iig. l; and

Figure 4, a sectional plan on the line of the propelling axes.

The four propellers H H and H H are driven in couples by engines M M', so that they may be turned at different speeds.

The enginesl which are here'represcnted, as of the horizontal type, may be arranged in any other manner, as vertical, inclined, 86o. y

Upon the same foundation are one or more boilers, G, around which are the coal-bunks'.

The propellers may be' .easily "arranged, on account ot' the very formof t'heboat.

The rudders G are placed in the direction of 'the axis selected for the forward and backward progress,

and they can be fixed to act alternately as angular cutwaters in the` direction in .which the boat divides the current.

Where the boat is to be, used for transporting wagonsor cars, the stowage of the latter upon the deck A maybe effected in two ways, as indicated in the plan, iig. 2; that is to say, upon 'parallel tracks, or

.swellings of the river, vso that it may always be placed perfectly level with the deck of the boat.

This bridge may lie-.moved by any suitable arrangements of winches or'hydraulic apparatus, d.

In descending the inclined plane connected with the bridge, wagons may be detained by 'a single winch,

and, for the ascent, a steam-winch' may bc placed inl the boat to-liaul up the wagon to a given point.

Passengers cabins can, it' necessary, be built upon the deck, but these arrangements may be varied accol-ding tothe nature of the service for which the vessel'is intended.

In using a boat constructed as above described asa 1sessel ot' war, it will always havethe advantage over other vessels of moving with 'extremezrapidity' by means of quadruple propulsion.

lf the boat be employed as afloating bridge for crossing a large river or arm of the sea, the going and coming may be effected simply by changing the d-L rection ofthe propellers motion ci turning.

Two of the propeller-s H5 for example, may be einployed for driving the boat, while the others,whicl1 turn more or less slowly, will serve to resist the force n'itbont the necessity of the current.

Such a boat will not present any obstacle for ascending or descending navigation, forfonling can bc easily prevented owing to the facility with which the boat may be propelled in any direction.

Claim.

The' within-described boat of circular draught and quadruple propulsion, or a circular boat having four screws or propcllers secured to the opposite ends of,

'and driven by twoshafts, which cross each other at right angles Vin the center of the boat, the said propellers being operated substantially in the manner siescribed,'so'that the boat may be navigatcd in any ditrection without deflection or leewa'y.

In testimonyfwhereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing 

